Maharashtra government takes slew of measure to reduce farmer suicides

To reduce farmer suicides, the state has initiated a slew of measures, including soft loans and interest waiver in first year. Agriculture minister Eknath Khadse said the government also won't hike rates of fertilisers, particularly urea, this year. "We've been spending Rs10,000 crore on construction of small dams to help farmers. Besides, we are providing cows and buffalos at subsidised rates to farmers." On cotton, the minister said farmers will get a discount of Rs100 per one bag of seeds. "We are committed to reduce farmer suicides."Meanwhile, a farmer from Dhundaje village in Malegaon killed himself on Friday by consuming poison. Ananda Ahire (44) had taken a loan of Rs7 lakh from a credit society. However, due to unseasonal rains and hailstorms, which destroyed his crops, he was unable to clear the debt.